Forget about NYC ever recapturing London’s financial crown. What sane hedge fund manager would de-privatize all his information, and submit to “surveillance” by the very Praetorians who have exacerbated every shock of the last 20 years?
Treasury eyes stronger powers for Fed
By Gillian Tett in London and Krishna Guha in Washington
Published: April 29 2008 23:23 | [...]
Read Full Post »
via
The Bank of England has imposed a permanent news blackout on its £50bn-plus plan to ease the credit crunch.
Ferocious and unprecedented secrecy means taxpayers will never know the names of the banks that have been supported through the special liquidity scheme, which was unveiled by Bank Governor Mervyn King last week.
Requests under the Freedom of [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in politics on April 28, 2008 | No Comments »
Not much new here, but a good summary nonetheless.
April 28 (Bloomberg) — For proof that Turkey’s economy and the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan may be unraveling, look no further than the lira.
The ruling Justice and Development Party touts the lira’s growing “prestige” on its Web site following the currency’s record 21 percent [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in federal reserve, haha on April 27, 2008 | No Comments »
“Greenspan came onto my radar screen in the late sixties as a seller
of economic and financial advice to the investment industry. To be
brutally honest, he was considered run of the mill by anyone I knew
then or have met later who knew his service then. His high point in
most memories, was a famous call in January [...]
Read Full Post »
via
… In Washington, nuclear experts were puzzled by the timing and quality of the evidence released by the Bush administration. Democrats suggested hardliners around Dick Cheney, the vice-president, had forced the issue to try to wreck the talks with Kim.
However, there is a more persuasive argument. Analysts in Seoul see the American disclosures as a [...]
Read Full Post »
What would happen when non-government T-bill chumps figure out that they’re getting between negative 5 percent and negative 9 percent real interest on a 2-year Treasury note?
… In March, consumer prices rose 0.34 percent, for an annualized rate of more than 4 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. That’s only slightly lower than [...]
Read Full Post »
U.S., Iran: U.S.-Contracted Ship Fires On An Iranian Vessel
April 25, 2008 1511 GMT
At least one shot has been fired at an Iranian vessel from a ship contracted by the U.S Military Sealift Command, Reuters reported April 25, citing a U.S. military official. No other details were immediately available.
Additionally, Debkafile (yes yes, I know) reports that [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in geopolitics, iraq, politics on April 25, 2008 | 7 Comments »
I generally agree with Stratfor’s take on the issue.
… it would appear that the United States briefed deliberately against Israeli wishes. Certainly, the Israelis didn’t participate in the process. One answer could be that the United States is unhappy about Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s moves on Syria and wants to derail them.
… there are [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in dollar on April 24, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I agree with Ritholtz that the “Murdoch WSJ” is significantly inferior to its predecessor in many respects. I don’t think that leaves much of an opening for the NYT, which most businessmen see as fluffy, verbose, hyperpolitical, and melodramatic (focusing on issues with a very high emotion:predictive value ratio)–or succinctly, “just a gay paper,” as [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in geopolitics, war on April 23, 2008 | 2 Comments »
of measuring Mideastern tensions is the average distance of all US carrier battle groups from the 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility (the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea).
That number is at its lowest in years, fwiw (and plunged very steeply over the past 7 days). This will coincide with Congressional hearings on Syria’s [...]
Read Full Post »
Gold stocks, more so.
This morning’s commercial EURUSD models showed a major dollar bias, which largely corrected itself today, greased by some more “we don’t like currency volatility!” hot air from ECB honcho Jean-Claude Juncker.
Meanwhile, the Treasury yield curve has steepened again. The difference between 30-year and 3-month Treasury rates widened by 9 bips today, to [...]
Read Full Post »
the monolines (Ambac and MBIA — remember them?) are going to be the next “crisis” … again. (h/t Alea)
Read Full Post »
Posted in dollar on April 22, 2008 | No Comments »
I love comments on this blog. If they are at all insightful they raise traffic here a lot more than a post will. Plus, I almost always learn something, which is even better.
However, comments in which you say (for example) “Hillary … be very afraid: [link back to your blog]” are of no relevance to [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in politics on April 22, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Clinton wins PA by 7 points.
Even if she won by double digits, it wouldn’t be enough.
Read Full Post »
PARIS (MNI) - With eurozone HICP at a record high and inflation
risks on the horizon as far as the eye can see, the European Central
Bank’s Governing Council is stiffening its resolve as the defender of
price stability, even at a time of great uncertainty about economic
growth, well-informed monetary sources have told Market News
International.
The ECB is still [...]
Read Full Post »
The Age (Aus.):
Justin Norrie, Tokyo
April 21, 2008
A 130% rise in the global cost of wheat in the past year, caused partly by surging demand from China and India and a huge injection of speculative funds into wheat futures, has forced the Government to hit flour millers with three rounds of stiff mark-ups. The latest — [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in doomsterism on April 21, 2008 | No Comments »
I guess the “Level 3 asset” chicanery got too embarrassing.
Outsize losses reported last week by Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. could have been a lot worse except for a quirk in the way companies account for different types of securities.
Citigroup took $15 billion in write-downs and credit charges, leading the big bank to [...]
Read Full Post »
I have always thought that there’s something uniquely soporifying about DC that makes most who live there especially complacent and/or ignorant, kind of like the lead plumbing of many “established” Roman cities poisoned most urban dwellers into senility by age 55.
George Will, though, gets it. He has just enough of a flicker of cynicism for [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in geopolitics, iraq on April 20, 2008 | No Comments »
Debkafile was right, this time.
A week ago:
Iran’s position as the greatest threat to Iraq was highlighted by Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker in their testimony to Congress last week - to the point that al Qaeda scarcely rated a mention.
President George W. Bush commented on April 11 that if Iran continues [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in politics on April 19, 2008 | No Comments »
How many times do I have to say ‘Game over’?
NYT SUNDAY: CLINTON CASH CRUNCH; DONORS MAXED OUT, TIRED… DEVELOPING…
NYT SUNDAY: DISLOYALTY OF ONCE-CLINTON SUPPORTERS…
DEAN TO DELEGATES: DECIDE NOW…
Clinton friend Reich backs Obama…
Boren, Nunn Endorse…
Read Full Post »
